Penns Woods Bancorp (NASDAQ:PWOD) versus Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) Financial Comparison

Union Bankshares (NASDAQ:UNB) and Penns Woods Bancorp (NASDAQ:PWOD) are both small-cap finance companies, but which is the better investment? We will contrast the two businesses based on the strength of their risk, analyst recommendations, profitability, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and earnings.

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Union Bankshares and Penns Woods Bancorp’s gross revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Union Bankshares	$67.01 million	1.62	$11.26 million	$2.37	10.13
Penns Woods Bancorp	$99.97 million	1.65	$16.61 million	$2.18	10.07

Penns Woods Bancorp has higher revenue and earnings than Union Bankshares. Penns Woods Bancorp is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Union Bankshares, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Dividends

Union Bankshares pays an annual dividend of $1.44 per share and has a dividend yield of 6.0%. Penns Woods Bancorp pays an annual dividend of $1.28 per share and has a dividend yield of 5.8%. Union Bankshares pays out 60.8% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Penns Woods Bancorp pays out 58.7% of its earnings in the form of a dividend. Both companies have healthy payout ratios and should be able to cover their dividend payments with earnings for the next several years. Union Bankshares has raised its dividend for 11 consecutive years. Union Bankshares is clearly the better dividend stock, given its higher yield and longer track record of dividend growth.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of recent recommendations and price targets for Union Bankshares and Penns Woods Bancorp, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Union Bankshares	0	0	0	0	N/A
Penns Woods Bancorp	0	0	0	0	N/A

Volatility and Risk

Union Bankshares has a beta of 0.79, meaning that its share price is 21% less volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Penns Woods Bancorp has a beta of 0.47, meaning that its share price is 53% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Union Bankshares and Penns Woods Bancorp’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Union Bankshares	13.63%	16.66%	0.70%
Penns Woods Bancorp	15.20%	9.12%	0.77%

Insider and Institutional Ownership

14.8% of Union Bankshares shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 27.9% of Penns Woods Bancorp shares are held by institutional investors. 1.1% of Union Bankshares shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 4.0% of Penns Woods Bancorp shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, endowments and large money managers believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Penns Woods Bancorp beats Union Bankshares on 9 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Union Bankshares

Union Bankshares, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Union Bank that provides retail, commercial, and municipal banking products and services in northern Vermont and New Hampshire. It offers retail depository services, such as personal checking, savings, money market, IRA/SEP/KEOGH, and health savings accounts, as well as certificates of deposit. The company also provides commercial real estate loans; commercial loans for plant and equipment, working capital, real estate renovation, and other business purposes to business owners and investors; small business administration guaranteed loans; residential construction and mortgage loans; municipal financing, including loans and excess deposits secured by FHLBB letters of credit; and home improvement loans and overdraft checking privileges against preauthorized lines of credit. In addition, it offers online cash management services, including account reconciliation, credit card depository, automated clearing house origination, wire transfers, positive pay and night depository services; merchant credit card services for the deposit and immediate credit of sales drafts; remote deposit capture services; and online mortgage application and consumer deposit account opening services. Further, the company provides business checking accounts; standby letters of credit, bank checks or money orders, and safe deposit boxes; ATM cards and services; debit cards; telephone, internet, and mobile banking services, including bill pay; and wealth management, fiduciary, and trust services. It offers retail banking services to individuals; and commercial banking services to small and medium sized business corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, and sole proprietorships, as well as nonprofit organizations, local municipalities, and school districts. Union Bankshares, Inc. was founded in 1891 and is headquartered in Morrisville, Vermont.

About Penns Woods Bancorp

Penns Woods Bancorp, Inc. operates as the bank holding company for Jersey Shore State Bank, which provides commercial and retail banking services to individuals, partnerships, non-profit organizations, and corporations. It accepts time, demand, and savings deposits, including super NOW accounts, statement savings accounts, money market accounts, and certificates of deposit, as well as checking and individual retirement account (IRAs) accounts. The company also offers loan products comprising residential, commercial, and construction real estate loans; agricultural loans for the purchase or improvement of real estate; commercial loans for the acquisition and improvement of real estate, purchase of equipment, and working capital purposes; letters of credit; consumer loans, such as construction and residential mortgages, home equity loans and lines, automobile financing, personal loans and lines of credit, and overdraft and check lines; and revolving credit loans with overdraft protection. In addition, it provides securities brokerage and financial planning services, which include the sale of life insurance products, annuities, and estate planning services; property and casualty, and auto insurance products; safe deposit services; ATM services; and Internet and telephone banking services. Further, the company engages in real estate transactions and investment activities. It operates through a network of offices located in Clinton, Lycoming, Centre, Montour, Union, Blair, and Luzerne Counties, Pennsylvania. Penns Woods Bancorp, Inc. was founded in 1934 and is headquartered in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.